Top Gun: Category 5 - Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

Clear to Engage

The two teams split into their respective groups. Katrina's eye bulged seeing her time limits. They were allowed to go slow getting to their starting point and then after that they have a little under 20 minutes to go 500 miles, which meant she would have to fly Mach 1 for more than half of the mission. At the same time she was going to be completely loaded down with ammunition to shoot down three enemy drones. In the event the enemy got their patrol off the ground she would have to conserve fuel for a dog fight over the Black Sea till she could get back to the carrier. That's assuming she could stay at their 2,000 foot ceiling and not set off any SAMs.

Rooster stood in front of his team with a white board and pen in his hand, "Alright Alphas what are you guys seeing?"

Katrina shook her head but made the most obvious observation, "We're gonna have to fly at least Mach one for more than half of this if we want to get out before the patrol has time to re-launch."

Rooster writes down 'Mach 1 ten minutes+' on the board.

"As soon as we turn tail at the north border the enemy recon drones are going to light up like fucking Christmas trees and sound the alarms," Apex says. "So we can either shoot them out of the sky before they see us or haul ass down that valley."

"How are we supposed to shoot down drones if we can't even see them till they're right on us?" Katrina asks.

Phoenix spins a pen in her hand, "Ok, we're not alone out there. We can get some support from our carrier. They have been tracking those drones for months and can send in Tomahawks to eliminate them before we even get there. It'll take about fifteen minutes for the enemy to get their signals up and running again and by that time we can already be heading down the valley."

Katrina and Rooster nod liking the idea of using their carrier to take out the drones and eliminating a massive use of their on board missiles.

"Using the Tomahawks will preserve our on board missiles as well, in case we need them for a dog fight heading home," Katrina notes.

Roosters writes, 'Tomahawks to eliminate drones and preserve on board artillery'.

Bob clears his throat, "As soon as those drones are shot down they're going to launch patrol and reset their SAMs and we're going to be prime target."

"Guys," Katrina says shaking her head like this whole thing was being over-complicated. "It's no-man's land and its neutral airspace they can't shoot at us without starting a much bigger war. They're not going to shoot solely because they don't want to give the U.S. a reason to get get involved."

The entire class of pilots turned to Katrina in shock of what she said. It made sense but she completed devalued the mission. Even Maverick who had been evaluating the groups stood there in shock.

"What are you saying we should do instead, Hurricane?" Maverick asks the striking pilot. He new his question was going to start some shit but he needed these teams to work through this. The head butting was going to be the hardest part of that mission.

Katrina smiles, "Send one plane, an F-35 so it can hit that Mach 1 or even 1.5, with a camera to take recon, the sound of the engine will provide air support requested. The enemies will wonder if the ally have fighter jets and that will create a fear factor. The one plane will haul ass down the valley before anything can reset and then turn tail back to the carrier and while the enemy is scrambling the carrier sends Tomahawks to shoot down the drones."

The entirety of Team Alpha and Team Echo sat silently trying to process the simplicity of Katrina's suggestion. In hindsight it would work. Her plan was entirely thought out but Rooster knew the main issue of it.